I don't make veg smoothies much, and I've revised my opinion about the Vitamix. Not because it doesn't work well --- it does --- but cleaning it is a friggin' bloody nightmare.

I returned the one my friend had lent me months ago.

Originally Posted by ninja dog

I find they're really very easy to clean. Everything comes off easily and when it doesn't, you just fill it with water and turn it on to swirl around anything that might be stuck. That's also how you clean an immersion blender easily.

Originally Posted by Saria

This. Just hot water and a squirt of soap, blend till frothy and rinse. Easy peasy!

Byron,GA> Charleston, SC> Jacksonville, FL> Guilford, CT> Rohnert Park, CA! A southern drawl in sunny Cali! . The amount of time from slipping on the peel and landing on the pavement is exactly one bananosecond.I do have a secret yen for pink in unexpected places. ~ninja dogI've decided that I'll never get down to my original weight, and I'm OK with that--After all, 8 pounds 2 oz. is just not realistic.

I don't know what a nut milk bag is. I just use cheesecloth to strain any nut milk or anything else that's very fine and needs to have no grit. If I used cheesecloth for straining out carrot pulp, I'd be wringing the hell out of it or leaving it overnight to drip out. With a strainer, I'd be pressing pretty hard to get as much juice as possible. If I wanted freshly extracted juice, I'd get a juicer. We used to make a green apple and cucumber juice for a dish at one job. We used a juicer even though we had plenty of blenders.
Fresh green apple juice is worth one all by itself. It's just that good, crisp, tart, and so different from anything bottled. Of course, you need to have some vitamin C powder on hand as well for it.

The food processor really is very useful. Pizza dough and pie dough make it worth it.
Ruralcurls, what kind of tortillas? I just do them by hand since they don't require a lot of mixing.
I have a food mill for applesauce, though at work the blender is often used to give it more of an apple butter texture.

she said she had trouble finding cheesecloth big enough so she just went with the nut milk bag. She feels like she gets a ton more juice with the vitamix than with the mixer.

Ok, this may sound silly, but when she said "pulverize", i really thought it did just that. For some reason, I didn't think she strained it. hmm, makes me rethink the vitamix. Maybe I just need a better juicer

I guess should have said I love the food processor because I am lazy. I love to push the button and see the dough get in a ball. Pizza dough, too. But, I haven't found a crust I really like for that just yet. I love it for vegetables, too. Yep, sometimes I am too lazy to chop.

Scrills, what kind of juicer do you have? I have a Breville and it seems to work pretty well. Although, sometimes it does seems as if there is an awful lot of pulp.

I must admit that we've lost the back that catches the pulp (so I've just been using bags), but it's still a pain to clean. The mime cleaned it for me a couple of months ago and he did such a great job that I didn't start using it again until this week because I loved seeing it so clean, LOL

I guess should have said I love the food processor because I am lazy. I love to push the button and see the dough get in a ball. Pizza dough, too. But, I haven't found a crust I really like for that just yet. I love it for vegetables, too. Yep, sometimes I am too lazy to chop.

Scrills, what kind of juicer do you have? I have a Breville and it seems to work pretty well. Although, sometimes it does seems as if there is an awful lot of pulp.

Okay, why is a tortilla press not suggested for that recipe? So much easier and you get uniform tortillas! Presses are cheap, too. And you can use them for arepas, pupusas, empanadas, dumplings, and stuffed buns! They're really useful and I'm glad I own one.

I have a press! She does not recommend one for the flour tortillas, just the corn ones. She says they don't get thin enough. I haven't made the corn ones, but I use the press for the flour ones and they were fine.

I guess should have said I love the food processor because I am lazy. I love to push the button and see the dough get in a ball. Pizza dough, too. But, I haven't found a crust I really like for that just yet. I love it for vegetables, too. Yep, sometimes I am too lazy to chop.

Scrills, what kind of juicer do you have? I have a Breville and it seems to work pretty well. Although, sometimes it does seems as if there is an awful lot of pulp .

Originally Posted by ruralcurls

Does your Breville do a good job of squeezing all the juice out and leaving dry pulp? I have a Juiceman, and I like it but was thinking about a Breville, because 1) I like the idea of having a separate canister that separates the pulp, so I don't have to stop midway through to empty the bowl, and 2) I thought it might squeeze a little more juice out.

I think if you want to make whole wheat flour tortillas it helps to get whole wheat pastry flour. It's lighter and more tender than whole wheat bread flour. I also think baking powder improves flour tortillas, even if it's considered a bit of a "cheat". It makes them lighter and airier.

Making flour tortillas is a bit like biscuits and flatbreads like crackers. You rub in fat (heh, lard) to resemble coarse meal and then you incorporate your liquid. So, I'd definitely use the processor over a mixer if I weren't doing it by hand.

I have a press! She does not recommend one for the flour tortillas, just the corn ones. She says they don't get thin enough. I haven't made the corn ones, but I use the press for the flour ones and they were fine.

Originally Posted by ruralcurls

Yeah, even if they don't get thin enough, it's much faster and more uniform to press then run the rolling pin over them to thin further than to go at them with the rolling pin from the start.